Coerceo
by Capelthwaite
Summary: It's Christmas at Hogwarts and everyone is in the Christmas spirit. Except for Lily Evans. But what happens when she's unwillingly trapped with a certain James Potter beneath a mistletoe with no way to escape but through a kiss? first fic! R&R plz!


**Author's Note: This is my first fan fiction. I'm writing this to see if people like my writing style so reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated. I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters are obviously not my property.**

_"All I want for Christmas is you…"_

'Argh, damn those singing armours!" she thought as stumbled away from the metallic choruses. Lily Evans was obviously not in the holiday spirit. Her fiery hair bounced as she huffed her way through the door and into Charms Class.

Although Charms was merely one of the many classes Lily Evans, Head Girl excelled at, it was her absolute favourite. A simple swish of the wand, a flick of the wrist, and a few choice words could manipulate, create, or simply do the most marvellous things. And most of all, Charms was a difficult class, one of the most apart from transfiguration. The fact that she held promising talent in that field of magic peeved the slimy Slytherin gits into a permanent unattractive scowl.

She walked in and turned to place her books at her usual seat, next to her best friend, Allison. However, she turned only to find an open tome sitting in front of a man in _her_ seat.

"Remus! Do you not recall that my seat is here and yours is in the back, next to your pathetic prick of a pal, Potter?"

He looked at the brunette beside him before responding, "Umm…Allison invited me to sit here with her. I had assumed that you found a seat elsewhere for today. I'm sorry but I'll move it you like."

Allison cut in, "That's not necessary Remus! She's fine with it," she leaned over and pulled Lily's tie towards her so their faces were a mere inch apart and pleaded, "Don't blow this for me. Please! You know how much I like him! I'm begging you, just this once."

"Then where do you suppose I'll sit then?" she whispered in reply.

Upon hearing this, Remus suggested, "Well, my seat is free," she visibly cringed, "They don't bite, I promise."

She raised her head to look into the direction of the Marauders who were either doing nothing or sleeping. She made a face.

"I think I'd rather—"

Lily was cut off by their professor's arrival. Professor Flitwick was standing high on top of a stack of books, surrounded other piles of similar volumes whose titles ranged from 'First Year Charms' to 'The Theory behind Spells and Wrist Motion'.

"Miss Evans, do we have a problem?" he asked, his hands folding together.

"No, Sir, I was just going to my seat," she replied all the while glaring at Allison who smiled sheepishly in return.

She grabbed her things and walked towards the back of the room where James and the Marauders resided. She sighed and forcefully dropped her text onto the desk, startling the slumberous mousy-haired blond. Peter looked around confused before resting his head atop the table once more.

Lily rolled her eyes before sliding into her chair, clearly annoyed at her current seating arrangement. She opened her book and prepared to take the first of Flitwick's notes when someone nudged her side. She rolled her eyes, irritated before returning to her futile attempt to recall the notes that Flitwick had already erased.

She felt another nudge at her side. Her face whipped around to look at James and hissed,

"What do you want, Potter?"

He cringed at the hostile tone before saying, "I have the notes. You can borrow mine if you like."

"Like you'd have any."

He slid his notes towards her. She glanced at them and her eyes widened. It was all there: The introduction to the barrier spell.

"Well that's a first," she muttered.

He gave a timid smile and a small blush rose to his cheeks as he turned away. Lily stared at him, anticipating some sort of cruel prank. Maybe the words would rearrange themselves into a declaration of love. Or possibly explode when she tries to touch them. Minutes passed as she leered suspiciously at them. It wasn't until he turned to her and asked, 'Are you done with them?' did she realize that there was nothing wrong with them.

Cautiously still, she reached for them and snatched them away from their former position on the desk. She kept the notes close to her and began to scribble furiously. On the opposite side of James, Sirius raised a questioning brow in her direction.

When she finished, she trust them back in James' direction as if they were the most disgusting thing she ever had the displeasure of touching. With only a glance, he took them back and continued his notes. She looked at him, bewildered.

'James Potter is writing notes. That has never happened. Has hell frozen over? And he's not fooling around either…" Lily's thoughts were brought to a halt as Professor Flitwick announced for the students to get into pairs and practice the new spell. Her eyes immediately scanned for Allison's only to find her paired up with Remus. She turned around and saw James alone yet looking hopeful, silently asking to be her partner. Apparently, Sirius partnered Peter leaving James on his own.

Everyone in the class was paired up by now which left Lily little choice but to pair with James. She reluctantly followed him as he led them to a vacant area to practice. She pulled out her wand from her back pocket as he did from his. They stood across from each other, silent.

Lily, growing increasingly uneasy after a few moments said, "Okay, the spell is 'Coerceo'. I'll go first then."

James simply nodded, lowering his wand as he waited for her to perform the charm. He stayed still within the barrier she had created. Shortly after, she preformed the counter charm, 'expedio' and asked,

"Did it work?"

"Yeah, it was perfect. As usual."

Uncomfortable, she stated, "Your turn."

He raised his wand arm and muttered, 'Coerceo'. Immediately, Lily was overcome by a feeling of claustrophobia, she felt caged. She raised her hands, trying to feel her way out. From outside the barrier, it looked as if she were miming. James gave a grin before letting down the barrier.

"See, that's the Potter I know, arrogant and conceited."

His face dropped at her words. She felt confused. Could her words truly affect him that much? They haven't for the past six years, why start now? She shook her head free of her thoughts and concentrated on the spell.

Time past as the end of class drew near. People were collecting their belongings as Flitwick tried to squeeze in the last bit of lesson. Lily slowly packed her things, hoping to catch up with Allison as she usually waited at the door. However, there was nearly no one left when she realized that she must have left with Remus for the feast.

'Ali's liked him for three years now, cut her some slack,' she reprimanded herself, attempting to calm the growing feeling of annoyance.

With her books piled high in her arms, she walked towards the door. She looked down at the floor, mentally reviewing the barrier spell as she snailed towards the exit.

"Professor! I forgot—!" A male voice yelled as she was walking through the doorway. A second later, the man whose voice was screaming collided with Lily, knocking her books out of her hold. He dropped down on his knees to help collect them when Lily looked up to stare at the hazel eyes of James potter.

"Thanks Potter, I really appreciated that," she sneered sarcastically, gathering her things.

"I'm sorry. I was in a hurry. I thought everyone left," he apologized.

"Well apparently not. Whatever, stay away from me Potter," she started to walk away from him only to crash into something again. "What the hell is your problem?!"

She looked up, expecting to find another person in her way only to find no one.

"What the…" she felt around as she did during class while inside James' barrier. Actually, it was exactly the same. She took out her wand and preformed the counter spell. Nothing happened. She tried again with the same lack of results.

Suddenly, she heard a cough. She turned around, surprised to be faced with James.

"You're still here? What in the world for?" she glared at him. He looked at her, amusement showing in his eyes. He raised a finger to point in the direction on the ceiling. Lily's eyes followed the motion until she saw something she wished she would only ever see from a distance.

Above them was a bouquet of green leaves, with blossoming yellow bulbs, and white berries, held together with a red decorational ribbon— mistletoe.

"Shit no," she grumbled. Then she turned to see James, who was resting on the barrier wall. "You planned this didn't you?" her nostrils flared. She took a step closer, "You thought that this was the only way you'll ever get me to kiss you," and she took another step until she was less than a decametre from his face. She tried to look intimidating, straightening to her full height of 5' 3. However, still slouching, James' six foot figure towered over her petite frame, dulling the intended effect.

He let out a sigh, "Don't you think that if I did this, I'd kiss you already? When your face is practically touching mine?" She staggered back at the revelation, "_And,_ as much as I may worship the ground you walk on, it's the Christmas feast. And I'm starving," he gave a small smile that radiated innocence.

Lily groaned in defeat. She was stuck in a barrier which only permitted a maximum distance of two feet between herself and the other occupant. 'Think, Lily, think!' she told herself, 'Oh! The source! Destroy the source and the barrier should disappear!'

She decided to voice her thoughts, "James! The mistletoe! Kill it!"

"Kill it…" he arched an eyebrow.

"Destroy it! You know what I mean, stop looking at me as if I'm mental unstable. If we destroy the source, the barrier will disappear!" she repeated.

"Okay then…why don't you test your theory?" he replied sceptically.

"Fine! Watch me", she raised her wand, tip pointing to the cursed plant, "_Reducto_!"

A red spark flew from the want to the mistletoe. The pair stared in anticipation, waiting for something to happen. Nothing.

"Why didn't it wor—!" Suddenly, the two whom were separated to the boundaries of the barrier were automatically forced closer together. They were now barely a foot apart. Lily's theory obviously backfired.

"Damn…" Lily murmured while trying to keep her distance.

"Well that didn't work…" he said to himself.

She turned to him, green eyes blazing, "Well then Potter, if you're such a smart ass, do something!"

"Let's see…" He stared at the mistletoe. His eyes failed to blink as he kept his eyes fixed intently on the plant. He was scanning the door frame, which was supporting the mistletoe, analyzing the situation for any possible solution.

Lily looked at him, the first time she has ever seen him so concentrated, save when it involved Quidditch. He was tall and built from years of Quidditch, no doubt. He ran a calloused hand though his dark, unruly hair which was sticking out wildly in various directions, hazel eyes still set on the mistletoe.

He broke her trance, "Maybe we could try to transfigure the mistletoe into something else. In these kinds of pranks, there's usually some sort of reaction depending on the spell used, like a side effect."

"Of course, _you_ should know," she mumbled under her breath.

He continued, not hearing her comment or simply pretending not to, "Obviously, 'Reducto' didn't work; it caused a compression of the barrier walls. So maybe the wizard who made the barrier spell made sure that no one could destroy it. So instead, maybe we could alter it."

Lily was baffled, never hearing him ever sound so observantly intelligent. Temporarily confounded, she merely nodded. James raised his wand, as Lily had and tried to transform the mistletoe into a tiger lily. The effect was immediate, however not with the results they were aiming for.

Once again, the two were pushed even closer together, the enclosure so small that their chests were touching. But there was more. Descending from the mistletoe now were rose petals, lightly falling like snowflakes. Most unfortunately, a romantic tune began to play in the background.

"I can't believe this. I'm stuck here with the most arrogant prick on the face of the planet!" James winced, "I'm going to be stuck here forev—OH MY GOD! It's Flitwick!"

Professor Flitwick came out of his office, evidently to attend the feast. He piled his textbooks, minimized them with a swish of his wand, and put them in his robe pocket.

"Professor! Professor! Help us!" Lily screamed. The professor walked towards them, oblivious to her pleads. He came within an arm's length still walking. When he reached them, he ungracefully ricocheted off the barrier wall. Expecting him to discover the stranded pair, Lily called his name again in glee. As he got up though, his face contorted into a confused expression and stalked out of his classroom.

"I guess we're invisible to other people," James observantly stated.

"Oh god, what did I do to deserve this?" She put her head in her hands, arms sandwiched between their bodies. James looked down at her defeated form.

"Hey, it'll be alright," he put a reassuring arm around her, "I bet we'll be out in no time. Besides, I'm not so bad, am I?"

That proved to be the wrong thing to say as her fiery temper was set off once more.

"You! YOU! It's your fault! If you hadn't run into me, this would never have happened!"

"Now Lily, calm down. Besides, I couldn't have crashed into anyone if you were looking where you were going."

"See?! It's always about you! And you wonder why I'll never go out with you! You'll never change!"

It was silent. Petals danced merrily around the pair, a couple landing in their hair. James' arms slammed against the barrier wall, one on either side of Lily's head. His eyes were shielded, facing the ground, muscles tense as they trapped her in place (not that she could move much before). Her captor was trembling in fury. She was afraid.

"I'll never change?" His voice was low as she strained to hear his words, "I'll never change?" he hissed again.

His head snapped up, eye level with Lily's. His gorgeous hazel eyes were shrouded with an emotion she never wanted to see: pain. He was hurt by her words. But why?

"Is that what you think? That I'll forever be that jerk Potter?" he blinked, as if to snap out of his trance of anger, "Call me crazy but I knew you were the one since the moment I laid eyes on you", his eyes softened into those of kindness and care, "Although you were as rotten to me as I was to you, my feelings for you just kept growing against my better judgement. Despite the fact that my mates continued to poke fun, I still felt that ridiculous infatuation.

"Then when hormones kicked in, I started to believe I needed you, I'd do whatever it took", he smiled faintly, "So that's when I started to try to get your attention. With Quidditch, class work, even pranks! I succeeded in getting the attention and respect of everyone but you. But I was brought up to be a persistent person, to never quit until I got what I wanted, so that's what I did. I was praised so much that I guess my ego swelled the size of England.

"But did you know?" he released his arms from around her, "That every year since I met you, that my Christmas wish didn't consist of piles of presents or galleons to buy myself more presents?"

He raised a hand to softly brush her cheek. Lily's face began to heat up beneath his touch and when he took away his hand, her skin was left tingling. She regarded him in amazement as he poured his heart out to her. How could she have missed side of James Potter after all these years? He smiled.

"I always wished, year after year, that my friends would find happiness, but above all, that you'd be happy. Even when I was an arse to you, I still hoped that you'd one day find someone who loved you just as much as I did, even if it wasn't with me.

"So I guess that in a sense, you were right, I'll never change. I'll always cherish you as if you were the sun, search for you as if you were a star and long for you as if you were the moon. But you're wrong because I have changed. I changed for you. I tried everything, to be more kind, deflate my ego, help other students, even go as far as to restrain myself whenever Sniv-Severus made snide comments at people," James' eyes saddened, "Yet you still fail to see that. Maybe my friends were right. That you and I don't belong together", he smiled again, dejected, "But I'll always love you, Lily Evans, and my wish will never change."

His hand reached for the back of her neck and lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was soft and short but felt like a lifetime to James who was pouring out his soul into what he thought was his only chance. He pulled away. It ended as soon as it started and with one last glance, James walked out of the barrier.

Lily's mind was working on overdrive, trying to process what just happened. The image of the pain written across his face was the only thing that stuck to her mind. Nevertheless, she knew she couldn't let him get away.

She turned to him as he walked away, a petal falling in her hand. She reached out to him, grasped his arm and pulled him back under the mistletoe.

"Wha—" she cut him off with a kiss of her own. He was frozen in place, not reacting even after she pulled away. A blush crept to her cheeks, still determined to tell her mind.

"You're right, and I'm sorry. It's just that you've always been an arrogant, bullying, egotistical, lazy, procrastinating—"

"Yeah, I get it"

"— prick. I guess since you've always been that person in my mind, I never believed that it was possible for you to change. You used to chase anything in a skirt, how was I supposed to believe you when you told me you loved me? But I guess I was wrong", she swallowed before looking him in the eye and saying, "I think I have found someone. And maybe I could learn to be happy with them and love them as much as they claim to love me. If you'll give me a chance, James, maybe I could make your Christmas wish come true."

James stayed rooted, Lily growing uneasy, until his lips began to curve into a giddy smile. He took her in his arms, embracing her as if she was his anchor to this world. He buried his face into her scarlet hair.

"I love you, Lily, Thank you," he looked at her, his smile so large his face could barely contain it.

Her expression mirrored his. She was happy and was hoping to learn more of the new James Potter. The one that was kind and passionate, rather than the one she chose to see before, the arrogant bully. They swayed to the mistletoe's music in a peaceful dance in the doorway, a satisfied smile on both their faces.

Moments passed before Lily recalled a particular part of James' speech, "The sun, the stars, and moon? Where did you get that line? A fortune cookie or Sirius?"

James gave an innocent smile before quietly replying, "Guilty as charged."

She gave a playful shove, causing him to smile.

"Merry Christmas, Lily," they looked at one another happily, petals falling around the new couple as they swayed blissfully in their embrace.

Further down the hallway, a clap of exchanging high-fives, cheers, and an audible squeal echoed down the hall in success.

"_Make my wish come true,_

_All I want for Christmas is…you!"_


End file.
